McMenamins Pub at Kalama Harbor Lodge — Restaurant in Kalama

Had a very disappointing experience on my last visit - they left the stickers on the bell peppers in my salad, service was slow and unpleasant, and prices have gone up quite a bit (totally not supported by the quality either). I had such a great first experience here and went out of my way to return but never again!

When we arrived, we were greeted by the hostess and she was very friendly and welcoming - but that’s where the pleasantries ended pretty much lol. Our service seemed very annoyed when asked what the soup and dessert of the day was - so much so that we never found out the dessert bc we didn’t want to bother him again lol. I tried to smile at several of the other servers only to be met with glares. What is going on here?

For the first food disappointment- Our server said the soup of the day was a type of “creole” soup and that it was like gumbo. I grew up in Louisiana so heck yeah I want some gumbo lol. It was pretty much inedible. The portion was tiny (thank god lol). The seafood nonexistent and the tiny piece I did have was rubbery and so overcooked. The sausage was an Italian style - not andouille - so the flavor was strange with the broth. The broth was very citrusy with a weird spice blend that was so thick it was like slurping sand - totally didn’t work at all. And there were potatoes in it?? In all my years in Lousiana I never had a Creole soup with potatoes in it . I don’t know what genre this soup is supposed to be - but it’s definitely not “creole” lol.

Up next - the main issue that has caused me to never consider returning. I ordered their BBQ chicken salad. At first I was enjoying it bc the flavor was great and chicken tender - was initially very nice. Until I found that they left the stickers on the bell peppers in the salad - cut right through them - edges all shredded (see photo). Do they even wash their salad veggies?? How much of the sticker did I eat?? THOSE STICKERS ARE MADE OF VINYL!! Disgusting! Now I’ll be scouring every salad I ever eat to make sure I’m not eating the dang stickers so thanks for that I guess.

When our server finally came back to our table after an extended absence - he was completely unsurprised. His response was to laugh and say “yeah that tracks”. That tracks?!! So the kitchen does this regularly? Maybe not something you want to admit to customers? No apology, nothing else - completely unconcerned. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough lol.

And to add insult to injury, their prices have gone way up. Totally unjustified. I was so excited to bring my hubby here - we drove like 20 mins out of our way -...

Husband I went in on Friday night, 7:45. Place was not busy at all and we were seated in the room just to the right after the hostess check in. Waited 10 minutes to get any service, waitress never brought waters which I feel like is a staple when you go into a restaurant. We ordered the omnivore pizza, mulholland burger, steak and mushroom bites and 2 whiskey and cokes. My burger was brought with no sauce on the buns- was supposed to come with mystic 18 burger sauce. The waitress when told that the burger was dry became very argumentative with us. My husband finally said, please make my wife another burger or bring us some burger spread we can put in it. She reluctantly obliged and took my plate. 10-15 minutes later she brought me another burger, I took one bite and realized she had smothered the bun with horseradish sauce. It almost made me throw up, it was awful. When we asked what kind of sauce had been put on the burger, she said it’s their “special sauce”. It was straight horseradish, not any kind of burger sauce. She stood at the table arguing back and forth with us. When she went to clean the table behind us and my husband I were talking about the sauce, she kept chiming in from the other booth about the sauce. In a position of customer service, the customer is always right. All she had to do was offer to correct the burger and bring burger sauce for the buns. Smearing the buns in horseradish then serving it back to me is completely unacceptable. My husband liked his pizza, the mushroom and steak bites were disgusting, they were served with some thick gravy and we had 4 pieces of steak in total. The waitress working this area was very rude and after the burger incident she purposefully ignored our table. Never asked if we wanted a second round of drinks, finally brought ONE water for both of us after being asked several times. My husband had to get up and get our own to go boxes as she kept walking past us, ignoring our table. Our bill was $100- and we will never...

We came here out of pure curiosity on a busy Sunday. There was a long line to wait to check in, and everyone was queued up in a narrow long hallway that blocked the entrance to their lounge. Not too great, but once we got our names in we only waited 20 minutes which is pretty good for a busy Sunday lunch. The restaurant itself is nestled in a beautiful lodge and I liked the stained glass windows and the wood walls, and there's plenty to look at / walk around while you wait.

We were seated outside (apparently the indoor and the outdoors have different menus, so this is the outdoor experience I suppose). I ordered a flight of their ciders (blackberry, cherry, and the plain) and their key lime pie sour ale. The cherry one was definitely not my cup of tea, but the blackberry was delicious! I would recommend you skip the flight and order that blackberry cider... It was awesome. The key lime pie sour wasn't too shabby either, I usually keep to my stouts and porters but this was palatable to me.

Food was... mid at best. We ordered the Captain Neon burger and my fiancee ordered a different burger that I can't remember. The fries were slacking heavy. They were hot, but they were unseasoned, wiggly soft fries. Not even their mystic 18 sauce (tastes tangy!) could save it. The burger looked good but the patty was a little dry and they do not give you nearly enough blue cheese in that burger. Usually I wouldn't mind but these burgers were like 18-20$ a pop. Not great.

ANYWAYS it wasn't awful, I just think its overpriced for what you get. If you're hard pressed and youre here just order some cider...